"I hope I'm not interrupting you. Would you mind sitting here and keeping me company for a bit?" Sidney politely asked, still wondering how to bring up the topic.
"I have to go to another place soon," Jack said, staring at the table, his tone calm.
"Jayson mentioned you two played together when you were kids. From what I remember, he was pretty quiet and solitary, so I never imagined he'd have close friends. I'd love to hear about your childhood together. He doesn't talk much, and he never shares anything with me."
"You've got plenty of time ahead of you. He'll eventually open up to you."
"Please, no need to be so polite. We're peers. How old were you when you met?"
"…Eight."
"How did you meet?" Eight years old? She was surprised. Jayson had such an old friend and still kept in touch with him—he must know a lot about Jayson.
"When we were kids, my dad worked as a driver for his family, driving for his father."
"I really envy you guys! You must have spent a lot of time together! Were you with him when Jayson ran away from home?" "I really envy you! You must have spent a lot of time together. Were you with Jayson when he ran away from home?" Though this wasn't the main reason she sought Jack, she was still very curious about Jayson's childhood.
He hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes."
"You dared to run away with him? Weren't you afraid of getting scolded?" Sidney asked jokingly.
"Heh!" Jack chuckled. "Back then, we were all about the adrenaline. When a friend's in trouble, you don't think twice—you just stick together."
"So, you know about his mother?"
"…Yes."
"How exactly did she pass away?"
Sidney couldn't help but notice the roughness of Jack's fingers. The skin looked calloused, worn from years of hard work. Beneath his fingernails were dark stains—almost like dirt, though there was something heavier about them, like oil or grease that had been worked into his hands over time.
"Didn't Jayson tell you? If he doesn't want to say, it's because he doesn't want you to know. How could I possibly tell you?" Jack said, looking troubled.
Sidney never understood why they treated Jayson's mother's death like a taboo, with no one willing to speak about it. Even when she asked Jayson about it, he would always brush her off with little more than a casual response. Sidney had always found it strange—why would the enemies of the Nixon family go after a defenseless woman? There were so many ways to exact revenge, so many options. Yet, they chose this method, this cruel and personal attack. It didn't make sense to her, and the more she thought about it, the more it unsettled her.
Sidney chatted with Jack for a while, and he only answered when asked, never initiating conversation.
Sidney learned that he no longer lived here, but for some reason, he had come back now.
"Are you guys looking for someone recently?" Sidney asked. She didn't know why, but something told her that there was something strange about it. Otherwise, with Jayson's capabilities, he could find the person himself—why did he have to go through Jack to find them?
"We are looking for someone, but the person has nothing to do with you, Madam. You don't need to know the details," Jack replied.
Sidney had a vague premonition. Ever since the day she saw them beating that person outside the private room, she felt they had been planning something, and Jayson had been deliberately hiding it from her. She was scared—scared that something might happen to him.
"…Can I have one of your business cards?" Sidney asked, wanting to know what exactly this person did.
"Sorry, I'm just running a small business, so I don't have business cards. And I'm sure your wife won't need to get in touch with me. I've got to run, though."
Sidney also stood up and walked to the door with him. He didn't say anything more and left without looking back. Sidney followed the bodyguard to Jayson's company. A thought crossed her mind—just how quickly Jayson knew she had met Jack, and how intense his reaction was, suggested that whatever was going on was something they didn't want her to know.
When they arrived at the company, as soon as Sidney opened the door, she saw Jayson with a rather bad expression on his face.
"The things are all bought. Should we go now?" Sidney took the initiative to speak.
"Why are you so slow?"
"I ran into someone and had a chat."
"Who did you meet?"
"Just someone insignificant." She didn't want to name names, trying to see if Jayson already knew who it was.
"You met Jack, didn't you?"
"…"
"What could you possibly talk to him about?" Jayson's face darkened.
"I was just curious about your childhood!"
"When did you get so curious?"
"I'm just concerned about you!"
"I already told you, the person I'm looking for has nothing to do with you. Don't ask about it anymore." He didn't understand why Sidney kept digging into this matter—she hadn't cared about these things before.
"Who exactly are you looking for? It's not Alondra, is it?" Sidney couldn't help but ask. She had a lot of suspicions, and this was one of them. Jayson had once mentioned that Alondra worked as a corporate spy, stealing other people's intel. Then, just like that, she disappeared without a trace. Were they looking for her? It seemed unlikely, but for some reason, Alondra's name kept circling in her mind.
"What would I want with her?" Jayson frowned, thinking that Sidney's imagination was running wild.
"I don't know! Did she steal Opal Lounge's trade secrets too? Or did something she did cause you trouble, and now you're trying to track her down? She's my good friend—can you just let it go?"
"You're overthinking this! I'm not looking for her. I'm the one who gave her the money and told her to leave. Why would I be looking for her?"
